Newspaper Page Text
©be lAUanla ©rMWeHa So mnial
VOL. XXIII. NO. 37.
11 hi . in J.TT-; 1 r j i ■■’i -T -rrn—niM-iiniri ~t N ..... ni■ imh
S ClJcrrx ® huiMfiias H
■g&r nw I mtmci ii mi irf r cMMbrnmawfrl ■mi ■■■ i H «
■GRAND JURY TO SEE
| PROBE ON GAMING
1 THUM FINISH
further Raids on Safety
Deposit Vaults and Brirtg-
H| ing to Light of More Swin
.-'■dle Victims Feature
■Kt Is the duty of the county com-
to appropriate enough
to carry on the investigation
by the November term of the
jury into alleged gambling,
horse racing, wire tapping and
but if they do not, the
grand jury will, according
a statement made by A. McD. Wil-
foreman of the jury, Thursday
||j Mr. A. McD. Wilson said he had
Mio doubt that the commissioners
see that the work would be
out to a finish regardless of
cost, and he said the present
Brand jury will recommend that the
be continued by the succeed-
investigating body.
“Solicitor General John A. Boykin,”
I Mr. McD. Wilson said, “is doing the
I Work of the chief of police and his
B men. He has unearthed a condition
■ in Atlanta that is astounding and the
■ work should be completed and not
■ allowed to come to a standstill. It
■ is far more important to the coun
-9 ty,” Mr. McD. Wilson said, “than the
■ building of highways and the county
■ commissioners will be requested to
■ appropriate money to complete the
■ investigation.”
■ Another raid on a safe deposit
■ vault, the disclosure of a number
■of additional alleged gambling dens,
■ and the bringing to light of several
■ more alleged victims of the gam-
■ bling and swindling syndicate, were
■ among the developments of the probe
R ing.
■ It became known Thursday that
P evidence has been secured by the
grand jury to show that a banker,
named Dukes, former president of the
Bank of Milam, at Milam, Ga., who
mysteriously disappeared from a lo
cal- hotel in November, 1918, was a
victim of the gamblers and swin
dlers. At the time the banker dis
appeared it is said his coat and
■watch were found in the hotel. Later
it was charged that he was short
In his accounts at the bank, fd< the
extent of approximately $45,000, but
this money, it is said, was made good
by his friends. Although the police
and private detectives were employed
to search for the missing man he
was never found.
k According to information received
■ by the solicitor general, the banker
■ had fallen into the toils of the gam-
■ bling and swindling syndicate, and
f was fleeced out of his money in a
I downtown office building, where ,it
F is said, the gambling operations were
being conducted at that time.
Victim Found
Another victim found is W. B. Hill,
seventy-six years old, of Clarkesville,
Ga. Mr. Hill, it is said, claims he
was fleeced out of $6,000 by the
•‘gang.” He is coming to Atlanta
to testify before the grand jury.
Several others, who claim to have
• lost from $2,000 to SB,OOO, Mr. Boy
kin says, have communicated with
l the solicitor general and have an-
I nounced their intention of appearing
' before the grand jury.
The investigation has revealed, it
Is said, that besides the places al
ready mentioned, the gamblers oper-
tn the old Normandy hotel, re-
Mpently torn down, at Peachtree and
|®West Peachtree streets, in a build
k®ig, on Ivy street, in the rear of the
theater, in a building on Pied
avenue, between Merritts ave-
and Pine street, in the section
Floyd Woodward, alleged
of the syndicate, lived, and
Kn a building on Auburn avenue, near
R the junction of Ivy street. t
F It also became known Thurs
' day that a new witness to the kill-
I Ing of Ed Mills, the alleged gambler,
1 by Floyd Woodward in a local ho
tel two years ago, when it is said
Mills was shot and killed in an argu
ment over the division of spoils, has
been found. This witness, accord
ing to the solicitor general, states
that he overheard the alleged plot to
h kill Mills and heard one member of
I the “gang” say that “Daylight will
r be darkness for him (Mills) in the,
morning.” Mills was shot and killed
a few hours later, it is alleged.
A demand was filed by Attorney
Samuel D. Hewlett, counsel for Mrs.
Elizabeth Smith, wife of W. Clyde
Smith, one of the alleged members of
a the syndicate, for an early hearing
RxtJT' the appointment of a receiver for
confiscated by Solicitor
and which was found in a
deposit vault use(l by Mrs.
Date of hearing had been
■set by Judge W. D. Ellis for Jan
that a hearing be granted as
IKoon after Christmas as the court
assign it.
To Seek Booty
R Information that more property is
" confined in a safe deposit vault in
k another bank of the city caused So
-1 licitor Boykin to secure a court or-
I der and make a quick trip to this
I bank. Just what it has disclosed
B has not yet been learned. It was
■ said by Mr. Boykin tfcat four other
were made on deposit boxes
afternoon, but that the
of the same had “beat him
g®> it” and all that was found was
empty envelopes.
and startling evidence is be
jß®: found each day, Mr. Boykin says,
it will be necessary to continue
probe through the entire session
January term of grand jury.
effort is being made by So-
General John A Boykin to lo
property in Atlanta owned by
of the alleged gambling
SKQgiB swindling syndicate in an effort
the victims of the "gang” to
■■■ver part of their losses.
raid was conducted Wed-
which resulted in the seizure
deposited in a local savings
in the name of L. V. O’Brien,
"Jack Knife” O’Brien, na-
known confidence man
tinned. on Page 6, Column 5)
M FDR BEnER IS
BUSINESS OF NATION
SEEN BYOFFIGIALS
All Danger of Collapse of
Credit Situation Has
Passed, Government Ex
perts Declare
BY DAVIjAIAWKENCE
(Leased Wire Service to The Journal.)
(Copyright, 1920.)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 24.—The
worst is over. A turn for the better
in the business situation of the coun
try has come. Government officials
generally are glad tq be able to send
a Christmas message to the Ameri
can people that all danger of a col
lapse in the credit situation has
passed and that from now on, a
steady return to normal conditions
may be expected.
Every bit of evidence gathered
here confirms the view of officials,
that with the exception of individ
ual cases, where bad management or
imprudent financing has caused some
concerns to hang by an eyelash, the
entire business outlook is favora
ble.
The process of readjustment is not
over. Perhaps some of the most
painful changes will come when the
price of labor is gradually .brought
down, but in the business world it
self the bottom has been reached
and the future is by no means as
dark as it was a month ago. Letters
received '’•om bank officials in vari
ous parts of the country indicate
that the turn came in the last six or
seven days and that the improve
ment is substantial and sound.
H< Buying Christmas
The reports received on Christmas
buying indicate that the strike which
the consumer started several weeks
ago against the purchase of any
thing except absolute necessities was
broker by the Christmas spirit and
that most retailers will have cleared
their shelves pretty well by the end
of this year.
Os course the danger in reducing
the] cost of labor always is the pros
pect of a strike. But in many cases
the employers would welcome the
chance to be fid of an overhead cost
on labor altogether for a few weeks,
so the wise laboring man consulting
with the housewife and noticing a
decline in the prices of food and
clothing will, it is believed here, be
ready to accept a lower weekly wage
rather than insist on a higher one
and run the risk of not getting any
thing at all during the winter
months.
But an abrupt change in labor
prices is not expected. Certain
classes of labor which have been
paid at war prices will have to come
down. All this may be stubbornly
fought by the labor organizations
but the alternative may be no work
at all.
The Lucky Individual
Already requests to accept a cut
has worked out successfully in sev
eral lines of business, and while ev
erybody wants the other fellow to
come down, and nobody wants to
bear the brunt of the reduction him
self or herself, some reduction in
labor costs is inevitable. The busi
ness man who wisely made his prices
on a basis, of the average cost for a
period-of normal years is the lucky
individual nowadays. Yet few of
them were able to do so unless they
sacrificed profits altogether during
war years and the number who did
that is very small.
Perhaps the most optimistic in
Washington are those who see in
the falling prices of building mate
rials the answer to the labor ques
tion. High rent, it has been contend
ed, has-been the backbone of every
demand for increases in wages. The
shortage in houses has been nation
wide. Some building materials are
back to pre-war prices. But building
on a general scale will not be re
sumed until labor comes down, too,
for anyone wanting to build a house
and sell it several years hence for
at somewhere near the original cost
will not build at war prices of labor
If the purchasing power of the dol
lar should gradually increase, the
average workman will not be justi
fied in asking for the retention of
high wages, but the trouble will be
to make the average man accept that
line of reasoning until the dollar ac
tually does buy as much as it used
to do.
Storm Is Weathered
The trouble about the readjust
ment of economic conditions is that
things do not move uniformly and
naturally reductions in labor cost
will be resisted. In the sense that
a fall in labor prices is yet to come,
the painfulness of the economic sit
uation is not over, but with unem
ployment so extensive, the resump
tion of large business operations
after the first of the year will tend
toward the relief of those who are
gettnig no wages at all and who
believe in the practical philosophy
that some kind of a job is better
th:>n none.
The big fact is that the financial
world, which makes possible the con
tinuance of manufacturing opera
tions, has passed through its crisis
and that while buying will be con
servatice, the return to norma) has
at last begun on a basis that has
removed the wrinkles of anxiety on
the faces of government officials and
made them feel that • nation has
successfully weathered the storm.
Congressman Starts
New Fertilizer Probe
WASHINGTON. Dec. 23.—-Inves
tigation by the federal trade com
mission of the price of fertilized is
proposed in a resolution
today by Representative BlandJPof
A STORY OF CHRISTMAS—IN THREE HAPPY CHAPTERS
<s —~ Ji.
: fir..: Mm <1 T; A »
■I ‘ t t W JjW.r-'Sa / ®■ i- s
1
/ 7/MRR -' I B ITT _W/
. \ I gig Brx ;
rBM i to JW.
UMI - s a r k )
XT~X P'
| J 'wonde-y- Pat J S a/ . wasn’t Santa goe3 io -me. '
I* - I Gonna crawl down fro that places , ~ . . . , . ° '
| r I I’B think he-J spoil his whiskXs ana 1 n t hang my stocking u P B«t h® fam! cMmX : ’1
k f \ Get black stuff orj Inis face-, . ♦u« Laok hV all 1-r j : /
X. I took, nymamma's great big one LooktC all the things j iound.
'Twill hoia jes’ he.aps. of stoF£ "L.
CYCLONE STRIKES
IN NEIGHBORHOOD
OF EUFAULA, ALA.
EUFAULA, Ala., Dec. 23.—A cy
clone passed four miles north of Eu
faula at 10 o’clock Wednesday, blow
ing down trees on E. E. Davis’, R. L.
Thompson’s and Mrs. E. S. Shorter’s
places at Roseland. At the historic
old Toney place, five miles from here,
trees, barns and outhouses were
blown down.
Across the Chattahoochee river in
Quitman county, Georgia, on S. H.
Davis’ place, seven mules kill
ed and trees and houses were demol
ished. .
Reports from Florence, Ga., 25
miles from Eufaula, say the storm
struck there, destroying several
buildings. Reports also say it struck
Springvale, Ga., nine miles from
here.
All long-distanee telephone wires
are down and Western Union is
working with difficulty. A fierce
wind blew at Eufaula all Tuesday
night and at 10 a. m. the most ter
rific wind and rainstorm since the
cyclone of March 5,191 p, raged. Rain
poured until 3:30 p. m., but no dam
age in the city is reported. Clouds
remained heavy and unnatural hu
midity prevailed for several hours.
CYCLONE DOES DAMAGE
AROUND WINCHESTER
MARSHALLVILLE, Ga., Dec. 23
A cyclone passed through Winches
ter Wednesday afternoon, damaging
Judge Felton six to ten thousand
dollars; Felton Hatcher, Billy Phil
lips, Taylor estate and Will McKin
sey from one to two thousand dol
lars each. Several head of stock were
killed, but no persons were killed or
injured.
Judge Felton narrowly escaped be
ing seriously hurt by a scantling
which was blown through the wire
screen of the .porch, missing him
eighteen inches. r
Seven buildings were blown down
and others were badly damaged.
Some automobiles were injured with
loss estimated at SIO,OOO to $12,000.
Felton Hatcher’s barn was blown
down on forty cows, killing six. Had
it not been for the presence of 200
of Mr. Hatcher’s hands, who lifted
the top, the entire herd would have
perished. Mr. Taylor’s and Mr.
Phillips’ loss s will not exceed S2OO
each.
TWO CAROLINA TOWNS
STRUCK BY CYCLONE
COLUMBIA, S. C., Dec. 23. —At
least two South Carolina towns were
struck by a tornado Wednesday aft
ernoon, dispatches from Barnwell
and Laurens, telling pf loss of one
life at the former and destruction
of property at both.
FARMER FINDS
$150,000 WORTH
OF STOLEN STOCK
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 24
Stock certificates and securities to
the amount of $50,000 which were
stolen from the First National bank,
of Smyrna, Tenn., on the night of
December 13, were recovered today
by local police officers through in
formation received by the chief of
police here.
The bonds were found by Luther
Ellis, a farmer, living about four
miles south of Ashland City, Tenn.,
in the Cumberland river imbedded
in a gravel bar. Mr. Ellis notified
a friend of his, who in tuwi notified
the police of this city and officers
were immediately sent down to take
possession of the papers.
W. V. Smith, president' of the
Smyrna bank, came to Nashville and
signed a receipt for the papers at
the local police headquarters for
$50,000. The bonds had been stolen
from the bank when safe breakers
entered the Smyrna bank and got
away with many, valuable papers.
ATLANTA, GA., SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1920.
W. F. HETRICK IS
TAKEN TO JAIL
IN COBB COUNTY
W. F. Hetrick, the former general
manager and secretary-treasurer of
the Acworth cotton mills, who is
wanted in Cobb county on a charge
of embezzling $90,000 of the funds of
the concern, and who was recently
captured in Columbia, S. C., arrived
in Atlanta at 7:20 o’clock Friday
morning in the custody of Deputy
Sheriff Sanders, of Cobb county, and
was taken from here to Marietta on
the 8 o’clock interurban car and
placed in the Cobb county jail.
Deputy Sanders and Hetrick were
met at -the Union station by W. T.
Gloer, general manager of the Ad
ams National Detective agency,
which trailed Hetrick and captured
him. They wetn together to the
Kimball house and got breakfast.
Hetrick was well dreesed and in good
spirits. He told the officers several
interesting stories of the manner in
which he had eluded detection since
"his disappearance last October. He
said he had been to Florida, to Min
nesota, to New York and to Phila
delphia. In the last-named city he
worked on a newspaper as proof
reader, he said.
He was trailed by watching his
wife’s letters received at Daytona,
Fla., where she is said be living
in a fashionable tourist hotel. She
was to meet Hetrick in Columbia
to spend the holidays with hm. The
detectives got there first and met him
on arrival.
Hetrick further told the officers
that he had been planning to return
to Cobb county to straighten out the
financial affairs of the Acworth
mills and prove his innocence. He
asserted that he was not guilty of
embezzlement but would be able to
show, at the proper time, that others
took the funds. He would give no
hint of the identity of these persons.
Marriage License Should
Cost as Much as Dog Tax
CHICAGO, Dec. 23.—Because
bridgegrooms are so full of joy and
hope they won’t object, Robert M.
Sweitzer, county clerk, proposed to
the finance committee today that the
price of marriage licenses be raised
to the same scale as dog licenses.
A marriage permit costs $1.50 and
a dog license $3. .
“I don’t see why Bthe fee for a
marriage license should not be raised
to the dignity of that for a dog
license,” Sweitzer said. “A young
man about to be married is- so full
of joy and hope that I am sure few,
if any, would object.”
Pupil Killed, Teacher
Shocked by Lightning
ADRIAN, Ga., Dec. 24.—At Ori
anna, a small town near here, light
ning struck the dormitory late Wed
nesday afternoon and killed a son
of J. I. Hatcher and severely shock
ed Miss Maggie Smith, a teacher in
school there.
Alexander Graham Bell
Makes New Invention
ST. JOHN, N. R, Dec. 24—An
nouncement of a new invention by
Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of
the telephone, was made upon his
arrival here today from Scotland,
where he visited his native city of
Edinburgh. He declined to state the
nature of his latest discovery.
HOUSTON WARNS
AGAINST REVIVAL
OF FINANCE BODY
WASHINGTON, Dec. 24—De
claring that the government faces a
gross deficit of $2,103,000,000 for
the current fiscal year, Secretary
Houston today warned the senate
finance committee that congress
should avoid putting a heavier bur
den on the treasury department.
The estimate came as a surprise to
the senate, as it was nearly $1,000,-
000,000 greater than that recently
estimated by Senator McCumber,
North Dakota, one of its members.
For the fiscal year ending June 30,
the treasury head estimated
the deficit would be approximately
$1,500,090,003, and he added that it
could be seen that new sources of
revenue must be sought to meet
even current requirements.
Bonus Bill
Mr. Houston v,-as called before the
committee to discuss the soldiers’
bonus bill which, according to esti
mates, would require an outlay of
$1,500,000,000, and he indicated that
the treasury would oppose any ac
tion -by congress that would tend to
open a new drain on the treasury.
The secretary also reiterated his
objections to the revival of the war
finance corporation. It would mean,
he said, that the treasury would be
compelled to launch a new program
of borrowing.
The committee was urtable to com
plete its work today and asked Mr.
Houston to return for further tes
timony Monday.
HAMON CASE GIRL
IN CUSTODY OF
TEXAS SHERIFF
EI PASO, Tex;., Dec. 24.—Clara
Barton Smith left El Paso at 6
o’clock this morning bound for Ard
more, byway of Fort Worth. She
was accompanied by Her lawyers and
Sheriff Garrett.
The party is scheduled to reach
Fort Worth Friday morning and
to reach Ardmore that afternoon.
Bond of SIO,OOO is to be furnished
immediately and Miss Smith expects
to spend a few days with relatives
in Oklahoma before returning to El
Paso to await the trial.
Attorneys W. P. McLean, Jr., of
Fort Worth, and Charles A. Coakley,
of Ardmore, said they would ask
a speedy trial and expressed the be
lief that her acquittal would result.
“The sympathy of the people of
Carter county is with Miss Smith,”
Sheriff Garrett said.
Hamon was shot in an Ardmore
hotel and before his death gave out
a statement saying the shooting
was accidental and relieving Miss
Smith of all blame. The county
attorney, however, swore out a war
rant which later was changed to
murder and another containing a
statutory charge.
Miss Smith was Hamon’s secre
tary.
2,000 Deaths Reported
After Terrific ’Quake
In Chinese District
BY JAMES Xi. BUTTS
(Special Cable to the Chicago Daily News
Foreign Service, by Leaser! Wire to
The Atlanta Journal.)
(Copyright, 1920.)
SHANGHAI, China, Dec. 23.—Two
thousand deaths have been caused
by a terrific earthquake in the Ping
liang district of Ifansu province.
There were twenty-five distinct
shocks within the first nine hours
after the first tremor. Hourly shocks
are still continuing.
Cities were laid in ruins with
great Igss of life and the roads in
the district were demolished.
FIRE AND BLAST
KILL THREE MEN
'AT GALVESTON
GALVESTON, Tex., Dec. 24. —
Damage tentatively placed at $400,-
000 resulted here this afternoon
when a fire spread by an explosion
aboard the oil barge Bolikow swept
a portion of the Southern Pacific
docks. Three men are known to be
dead and two injured. The Bolikow
was a total loss, while the steam
ships El Occidente, Aschenborg and
Hastnai sustained damage from the
flames. Part of the docks on 'both
sides of the slip in which the ves
sels were berthed burned, as also
did a grain elevator conveyor.
Captain Wallace Mackenzie, mas
ter of the British steamship Aschen
borg, brought his vessel safely
through a blazing inferno. With
the fire licking at his vessel from
both sides and a wall of flame ris
ing from the oil-cpvered water, Cap
tain Mackenzie, crouched on the
bridge of his vessel, one hand on
the wheel and the other on his en
gine room controllers, poked the
Aschenborg safely through the fire
and into the channel.
The damage to El Occidente? was
not obtainable tonight, but it was
officially announced that the Hast
hai suffered only slight damage to
her superstructure.
Decision Barring
Christmas for Boys
May Be Revoked
WEST ORANGE, N. J., Dec. 24
Three west Orange boys who were
sentenced by. Recorder John B. Lan
der to have no- Christmas presents
and take no part in yuletide rejoic
ings because of their michievous
pranks, may have their sentences re
voked.
Recorder Lander, who has received
protests from individuals and organi
zations throughotn the country, said
today he was “a sick man from wor
rying about what I have done.” He
said he was considering changing
the sentence.
“I am certain of one thing,” said
the recoyder, “and tl\at is that my
decision has resulted in making bet
ter boys in this pre-Christmas sea
son in many places outside West
Orange. It has been a -warning to
those who have made a practice of
going too far with their tricks. It
would not be right for any boys to
go to church on Christmas even, sing
‘Jesus, Lover of My Soul’ and then
go out and play tricks that would be
damaging.”
Judge K. M. Landis
Gave Young Offender
Choice of Two Paths
CHICAGO, Dec. 24. Kenne
saw M. Landis gave Roy V. Warner,
aged 17, charged with cashing a sl7
check stolen from the mails, his
choice of two paths today.
“Do you want to go to hell?” the
judge asked, leaning overythe bench,
“or do you want to go along the nar
row path? The road to hell is lined
with beautiful scenery, but the other
Ijpth is the better.”
Warner said he “guessed he would
try the strait and narrow path.” The
judge sent him to jail until January
5 “to think things over.”
Colby Welcomed By
President of Brazil
RIO JANEIRO, Brazil, Dec. 23.
Dr. Epitacio Pessoa, president of the
republic, addressing Bainbridge Col
by, secretary of state of the United
States at a banquet given in Mr.
Colby’s honor Thursday night, said
that North and South America were
bound by ties of common ideals.
These ties must be drawn still closer,
however, the president declared, to
bring to completion the work of dem
ocratic civilization undertaken by the
two Americas.
W. B. GREEN TO
APPEAL FROM
COURT DECISION
William B. Green, the former Fair
burn banker who was convicted of
embezzlement and sentenced to five
years by a Campbell county jury, and
whose appeal for a new trial was
denied Thursday by the state court
of appeals, will take his case to the
state supreme court.
Attorney H. A. Allen, who repre
sents Green, announced Friday that
he would give notice during the day
of a petition for a writ of certiorari
and that he will file the formal pe
tition within the next few weeks. If
the supreme court grants the writ,
it will then hear arguments by coun
sel for both sides on the main ques
tion of whether Green shall have a
new trial.
Green is at liberty under bond.
He is staying at his mother’s home
at Fairburn, and, according to his
friends, he is a broken man, both
mentally and physically. His bond
is $40,000, of which $25,000 is for
embezzlement, and $15,000 for a
charge of arson on which he was in
dicted but has never been tried.
It was -stated at Fairburn Friday
that no steps will be taken to reim
prison Green or to begin his service
of his sentence, pending the outcome
of his attempt to appeal his case to
the supreme court.
“I saw Mr. Green Thursday, and
communicated to him the decision
of the court of appeals,” said Attor
ney Allen. "He took the decision
philosophically, but he will leave
nothing undone to get a new trial, if
possible.” »
Six Men Are Held
In Connection With
Tragedy Near Butler
COLUMBUS, Ga., Dec. 24—On vari
ous charges in connection with the
bloody tragedy near Butler, Ga., on
the morning of December 15, Will
Garrett, his two sons, Alfred and E.
F. Garrett, were held by United
States Commissioner N. A. Brown,
last night under bonds of $25,000
each. The two negroes, C. Dandy
and-. W. Lackgart, were held for SSOO
each, and C. A. Wadsworth was bound
over in the sum of $5,000.
preliminary hearing lasted
four hours. Details of the tragedy
in which R. W. Jackson, an officer,
and John Garrett lost their Ilves
were bared by many witaesses. Of
ficers had just smashed a still.
No bonds had been made today,
all six men being held in the Musco
gee county jail.
Milking ThiefJßalked;
Farmer Substituted
Young Mule for Cow
RALEIGH, N. C., 24—A
thief has been sneaking into the
barn at night and milking a cow
owned by a Johnson county farmer.
The planter determined to put an
end to the culprit’s depredations. A
few days ago the cow was trans
ferred from her regular stall and
a young mule was substituted. Sev
eral nights ago the farmer was
aroused by a terrific racket in the
vicinity of the stable. The planter
grabbed his shotgun and ran to the
barn, but the thief had escaped,
leaving a battered milk pail, a small
stool and a hat in the mule’s stall.
The 4 visits of the intruder have
ceased.
Scents a
$1.50 A
CRIME WAVE ORDER
DF‘'SHDDTTOKILIi
ISSDEDJYBEAVEII
Evening Watch lslncma«
and Civilia
Called On —N®
by Officer W
Bound . two
Crime ys. the
went to the force by '. *>
gin. The highwaymen
were on the defensive.
to start anything except in a g
stances, and one of these
the capture of a safe-cracker in th«
very act.
In addition, the police got credit]
in the minds of several hundred
people for killing a yeggmen with
$20,000 in his pocket as he tried to
escape fronj a Five Points jewelrV
shop which he had blown opejJ
with a charge so terrific that m
wrecked several buildings. IR
Thirteen different reports of thiß
affair were reieeived by The Journal)
and twenty-nine by the police. Thu 1
far painstaking investigation ha’
failed to confirm a single report.
The story seems to have been start
ed by one of those Inventive brains]
that always appear along with crimd
'waves. ■ 1
Caught In Act
The yeggman caught in the ac>
was Rube Benton, alias James
Harrison, a negro barber for Her-'
don’s, at 35 Marietta street. He
was trying to crack the safe of
his employer’s shop when the police
got him.
Will Hines, the negro janitor of
Herndon’s, unlocked the front door
of the barber shop at 5 a. m. and
started to clean up. He heard
rifle hammering in the basement,
and without stopping to investigate,
relocked the door and ran toward
Five Points.
The police crusade on crime,
notably the placing of fifty addition
al men on duty at night and Chielj
Beavers’ orders to “shoot to kill']
wheh criminals were encountered ai
the jobs and sought to escape, apj
parently has had an Immediate and
marked effect in checking the recent
epidemic of robberies in Atlanta. j
The news was widely heralded iJ
Wednesday afternoon’s newspaper
that fifty men had been transfe#wß
from the day watch to the evenirß
and morning watches, that the citP
zen police had been called upon to
do voluntary duty in their neigh
borhoods at night, that members ok
the force had been ordered to “shoß
quick and shoot to kill” if safe!
crackers or highwaymen, caught redj
handed, sought to get away and that
the entire-force was on its mettle to'
protect the Atlanta public. i
Evidently the yeggmen anJ
burglars took the warning to hedjfl
for Wednesday night was a
of comparative quiet at the polß|
station. Where twenty-six calls, B
eluding one- murder and a number ■
bold robberies were received at tIR
police station Tuesday night, onll
fourteen calls came in during t«
same hours Wednesday night, anl
practically all of these were of I
minor nature.
The “shoot to kill order” resulted
in the slaying of -one negro. Will
Ham Henry Clemons, of 29 Gumbjl
street, was ordered to halt on thJ
Edgewod avenue bridge' about 1
o’clock by Policemen Evans arifl
Bentley. The officers say he wR
carrying a heavy satchel and thlH
at their command, he dropped it aH
drew a weapon which was fouM
later to be a pair of barber sheaH
As he advanced toward them,
man Evans fired. The negro dr-K
ped. shot through the abdomen,
ajed soon afterward at the
hospital. Ml
Rob Cash Register
Two burglaries, one
a taxicab hold-up and the
of an automobile were the crimes
ported Wednesday night. J. F.
tree, a grocer, of 166
street, Inman Park, stated that
white men entered his store
in the evening, held him up and
bed the cash register of $1.55.
Two churches were ransacked
ing the night. At the All SairiK
Episcopal church at 256 West Pead®
tree, robbers stole all of the Chris®
mas gifts and decorations whirl, haR
been left in the Sunday school room,
ready for the children’s entertain
ment Thursday morning; and the
North avenue Presbyterian church
on the corner of Peachtree and North
avenue, was entered and plundered
of several articles of value, including
the church linden, and sofa pillows
from the ladies’ parlor.
A Mrs. Lucas, of* 15 Elmwoo’d av«,
nue, reported her cbok was waylaid o r ,
the way to the grocery store anol
robbed of a purse containing $2. R.
E. Mitchell reported the theft of his
automobile from Auburn avenue and,
Ivy street.
The boldest robbery of the nighfl
was reported by W. A. Harrison, oR
Forrest Park, who stated he charte®
ed a taxicab in Atlanta and was
ing in it on the Cascade road,
the driver stopped, and, with two
er men who occupied the front
with him, assaulted him and
him of $7. His wounds were
at Grady hospital.
Several arrests have been
connection with recent
John C. Davis, a young
was arrested at Toccoa by
agents and has confessed to
bery of two safes at the
cruiting station in the
building. The police have
Dewey Hunter, a n.-rro
record, and Ja>-...x Jackson,
A. Nolan, another negro.
(Continued on Fag* 6, C®